Just Run
by chimingofthebells
Summary: Short drabble. Arthur unwillingly tries to kill Merlin.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin hears the door open, but doesn't look up from where he's making up the bed. He hears Arthur say his name, and he notes that the king's voice sounds different, heavier than usual, but brushes it aside as a rough day.

"I was just about to fetch your dinner, but I saw there was a hole in your blanket and I knew you'd be angry if I just left it so I-"

"Merlin."

Merlin lifts his head, and is immediately shocked to see Arthur standing in the center of the room, sword half lifted. He's shaking.

"Why have you got your sword out?" He asks.

"Merlin, you have to get out of here." Arthur's voice is desperate and shaky. Something's gone wrong.

"Why? What's going on?"

Arthur suddenly jerks forward, his foot flying out, dragging his body with him as if against his will. The king stumbles.

"Just go, Merlin, I don't have time to explain, you have to leave-"

Merlin straightens up, eyeing the stiff way Arthur's holding himself, as if he's running and staying still at the same time. His sword is raised, pointed towards Merlin, and Arthur is breathing hard, sweat shining from his forehead.

"Just tell me what's wrong, I can help you," Merlin says, going around the bed to approach Arthur, but Arthur jerks and shouts:

_"Get away from me!"_

Merlin freezes, raising his palms up in surrender.

"What's gotten into you Arthur? What's going on?"

"I can't control it, it must be some kind of enchantment, and if you don't run it's going to make me kill you, so you have to run."

_"What?" _

"You have to run, I can't control my body and I won't be able to stop myself and if you don't run right now I'm-I'm going to-the magic is too strong, I can't fight it for much longer-"

As Arthur speaks, his body jerks forward several steps so that the sword nearly impales Merlin, but Merlin dodges it and steps away hastily.

"Arthur, what happened? What kind of enchantment?"

"I don't know, there was a girl, I thought she was a serving girl but-but she spoke some words and then-then I was walking here, against my will, and then I had my sword, and-I can't stop it, you have to run-"

Merlin's breath speeds up to match Arthur's ragged inhales. The magic is strong, he can feel it's presence in the room, a dark magic battling with his own. It's taking over Arthur, even as he stands there trembling, feet braced on the floor but stumbling forward. The magic is trying to force his body to move, and Arthur is fighting hard to keep still, but the magic is too strong...

"If I leave you, you might turn on yourself."

"No, don't think about that, go find Giaus, or something, but now you need to run-"

Arthur is cut off by himself lunging forward, raising his sword and attacking, and Merlin ducks, nearly missing a sword through the head. He runs behind Arthur, and Arthur turns to chase him, sword poised. Merlin finds himself caught in a corner, and turns to find Arthur advancing, face strained and limbs jerking. Merlin braces himself for death, but Arthur gains control for a moment, stopping just when the sword is inches from Merlin's chest.

"Run," Arthur pants, his eyes wild, "Run, Merlin."

Merlin looks into Arthur's eyes, pupils blown wide and terrified. He doesn't want to leave, he has to find a way to stop this-

_"RUN!" _

Merlin does.

**AN: I was planning on just getting this idea out of my head, but I guess if enough people want me to continue it I will!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Ok, part two! Part three is on the way too! **

By the time Merlin reaches the door, Arthur has lost control. He chases after Merlin, and Merlin hears the dull thud of a sword embedding itself into wood as he slams the door behind him.

"Run, Merlin!" Arthur continues to yell, as the door shakes as his body repeatedly throws itself against the door, trying to get out. Merlin bolts it and adds a magical lock for good measure, sealing the king inside his own chambers.

He backs away from the rattling door, and quickly turns to run and find Giaus to try and find a solution.

He bolts through the corridors, slamming into people and rushing past them with barely a "sorry" thrown behind him. He runs.

When he reaches Gaius' chambers he flings the doors open, surprising the old physician inside.

"Merlin? What's going on?"

"I need your help."

He hurriedly explains what's going on, because he knows that there's little time before Arthur's body finds a way out of the chambers. The only way out is the window...Merlin shudders to think of those results.

"...So can you help?"

"My question is, why was he enchanted to kill you specifically?"

Merlin shakes his head. "I don't know. Maybe...whoever cast it knows who I am, about my magic."

Gaius nods in agreement.

"I do have something on body binding," He moves to the back of the room, pulling a book off the shelf and flipping it open in a cloud of dust.

"Well?"

Merlin doesn't like the way Gaius' frown deepens as he scans the page, the crease between his rising eyebrows not sending a good sign.

"It says there are only two ways to reverse the spell."

"And they are?"

"One is to find whoever cast it and make them reverse it."

Great.

"And the other way?"

"There's a spell, but there's no discreet way of doing it."

"What do you mean?"

"You have to be looking the victim in the eyes, no further than four feet away from them."

Gaius looks up to meet Merlin's eyes.

"Neither of those sound very easy."

"They don't, no."

"And you don't have any way of tracking down the source of the spell?"

Merlin thinks, hard.

"Well, Arthur did say there was a girl, who he thought was a serving girl..."

"There are loads of serving girls in the castle."

"I know!" Says Merlin, frustrated.

Giaus sighs.

"Here's the spell," He says, thrusting the book into Merlin's arms. Merlin scans it, committing it to memory. Then he hands it over to Gaius.

"I don't have much choice then, do I?"

"What are you going to do?" Gaius is worried, Merlin can tell. Suddenly he isn't sure what to do. He says so.

"Whatever you think is best," Gaius says. "Arthur can't stay locked in his chambers forever. The magic won't let him rest until he's killed you."

Merlin nods curtly, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts before dashing from the room.

This is it, he thinks, it's all over now. No more hiding.

Feeling a mixture of fear and determination, he runs down the corridor and turns a corner. And barrels straight into someone.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So, slightly longer chapter this time around! Everything's pretty much wrapped up, but I also could add a bit of an epilogue. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Both parties yell in surprise and jump backwards. Merlin looks down at who the other person it is.

"Yana! I'm sorry..."

It's Yana, a girl of 15 years. She's brand new to the castle, having come to Camelot to work from an outlying village. She only started work a week previously, and she still is learning the ways of the castle. Merlin had talked to her many times, teaching her the ways of the palace, how servants were to act and the easiest and quickest way to do chores. He had spent an entire afternoon showing her the secrets of the castle, and it didn't matter that Arthur had yelled at him afterwards for ignoring his duties.

Yana is a quiet girl, with a long, strikingly blonde braid down her back. Her doe eyes look up through thick lashes, and her mouth is always in a shy smile, always keeping quiet and polite.

Normally, Merlin thinks of her as a nice girl who keeps to herself. But now, after quite literally running into her in the hall, he notices the way she had been standing, crouched and still, and the way there's guilt written across her face.

He remembers something Arthur had said only minutes ago, when he was trying hard not to kill Merlin:

"...there was a girl, I thought she was a serving girl but-but she spoke some words and then-then I was walking here, against my will..."

"It's you," Merlin concludes, staring down at the girl.

"I-I don't know what you mean."

There's a loud pounding sound. Merlin and Yana are standing in the corridor just outside of Arthur's chambers.

"You enchanted the king, didn't you?"

"Me? Enchant the king?" She parrots.

"He's being forced to kill me, he's been enchanted, and it was you, wasn't it? You did this to him!"

"I couldn't-I would never-"

She's stuttering, and Merlin knows she's lying. Now that he's aware, he can sense it in her. She has been using magic recently, he can almost smell it on her. He can tell that she's not well practised in using sorcery, so she must have had help from someone to enchant Arthur.

"Where did you come from?" Merlin challenges, "Before coming to Camelot, where did you come from?"

"I've told you! A village a day's walk from Camelot, called Osmonde."

Merlin peers at her suspiciously. The pounding on Arthur's door is still happening.

"Why did you come here?"

"My mother sent me-"

"No, I mean why did you really come here?"

Yana closes her mouth, her bottom lip trembling and her eyes wide.

"I-my mother did send me, but on the way here I was stopped..."

"By who?"

"A woman...with black hair and pale skin...she wouldn't tell me her name."

"Morgana," Merlin says, mostly to himself. "Of course."

"M-Morgana? Not the lady Morgana Le Fay?"

"Quickly!" Merlin grabs Yana by the shoulders, "I need you to tell me what she told you."

"I-I can't, she said she would kill me, I've said too much already-"

"Damnit, this is important!"

For a moment she just stares at him, a series of emotions flashing across her face. Then, her eyes wide with fear and uncertainty, a few foreign words tumble from her lips and her irises flash gold.

"What- No!"

Merlin turns just in time to see Arthur's chamber doors fly open and the king nearly falls out, immediately barreling towards the two servants.

Merlin doesn't need to be told to run. He takes off, Yana already far ahead of him.

They run through the castle, rushing past servants to get away from the enchanted king.

Merlin surpasses Yana and runs ahead, sparing a glance behind him. Arthur is far behind, running quickly despite fighting with himself. The magic is gaining control over him. Yana is behind Merlin, breathless, her eyes wide with fear. Her hair flies behind her as she flees.

There's a door standing ajar, and Merlin dives into it. Yana barrels in with him, and Merlin doesn't have time to send her out. So he magically seals the doorknob and grabs the serving girl roughly by the shoulders. The wood of the door presses right up against them.

"Yana, I need you to tell me how to reverse the spell."

"I-I don't know how!" She cries.  
"You have to!" Merlin bites out, frustrated. He looks into her eyes, and feels a bout of confusion. She looks frightened and completely lost. She doesn't seem evil at all.

"Yana, please."

The girl trembles for a moment.

"Why does the Lady Morgana want you dead?"

Merlin hesitates.

"There could be any number of reasons. We have a certain history together. Now please, you have to reverse it."

"I..."

There's a loud thud as Arthur's sword comes in contact with the door. The wood shudders against their skin. Yana jumps and sends a terrified glance at the door.

"He's not going to hurt you," Merlin says, "Not if you don't reverse the spell. Please. Just reverse it."

"But the Lady Morgana said that-"

"I can protect you from her," Merlin interrupts. The door shudders again.

Yana looks at Merlin, her face contorted with fear. But before she can respond, there's a crash as Arthur's sword pierces the door. The wood splinters, and before Merlin knows what's happening, the sword is embedded in Yana's side.

The blood drains from her face, and she looks down at where the metal is buried into her flesh. She whimpers, then falls to the floor.

"Yana!"

She falls. Merlin catches her before she hits the ground, and he gently sets her on the floor.

Yana's breath is shallow.

"I'm sorry," She whispers.

Merlin glances up. The sword is still poking out from the door, the blade now stained with red. But mysteriously, Arthur is not to be heard. Merlin turns his attention back on Yana.

"She made me do it." Yana's voice is hoarse. "I really was on my way here from Osmonde, my mother was sick, and we couldn't afford medicines. I was to go to Camelot to work, so that I could send my earnings back to her."

Realization dawns on Merlin. Of course, Morgana would have manipulated Yana.

"She stopped you, didn't she?" He says. "Morgana promised you your mother's health if you did her a favor."

Yana gives a tiny nod.

"She taught me a few spells...she didn't really tell me what I was going to be doing. She just told me to place the enchantment on the king when the time was right, but she didn't tell me what it would do..."

"She didn't say anything?"

Yana shakes her head. Her hands press tightly to her side, trying feebly to staunch the blood, but the liquid is seeping freely in between her fingers, staining her dress and pooling on the floor.

"She mentioned someone called Emrys."

And that's it. Merlin understands now. Somehow Morgana must have figured out who Merlin really is. He has a sneaking suspicion that once Merlin was dead, Arthur's body would make him turn on himself.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," Yana sobs, tears streaming down her cheeks. "But Morgana said, she promised that if I did as she asked she would heal my mother, and if I didn't she would kill her, and me too, I didn't know, I swear I didn't know..."

Merlin is silent as the sobs consume the girl, which turn into coughs sprayed with blood. He feels a twinge of sympathy-Of course she didn't know. She was only trying to help her mother. From Yana's point of view, she didn't have a choice.

He looks down at the girl on the ground. Her entire front is now stained with blood, and her coughs and sobs are becoming more feeble. She looks up at him miserably, sorrow and guilt written in her face. She looks so small, so scared, so very full of remorse. He leans in so that she can hear him.

"I forgive you," Merlin says softly. "It's alright Yana, I understand."

The girl's eyes widen for a brief moment. She opens her mouth to respond, but instead takes a shuddering breath. She holds it, struggling for a moment, before she exhales. Then she is still.

Sorrow washes over Merlin, and he reaches over to shut her eyes. He looks and contemplates her for a moment. Then he stands and opens the door.

* * *

**So let me know, do you want an epilogue?**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So, I guess this turned out to be a part four instead of an epilogue. But anyways, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"What happened?"

Merlin looks down on Arthur, half-sitting on the floor with his hands braced on the wall behind him. Trembling.

"Stay back!" Arthur holds up a hand, and Merlin pauses. Arthur is trembling.

"Arthur, I think you're in control again."

The King looks up at him, his expression full of fear and uncertainty. But Merlin nods at him, and gradually Arthur begins to relax. He lets his arms fall as he slumps against the wall, his legs sliding out to rest in front of him.

"It's over," Merlin says quietly. "I think the enchantment died with her."

Arthur eyes the bloody sword, still stuck fast in the door, then the serving girl slumped against the doorway, her hands limp near her wound.

"I killed her instead of you."

Merlin nods.

"Who was she?"

Merlin looks down at her, then back to Arthur.

"Her name was Yana," he says. "She was a serving girl, brand new to the castle. She came here to work, so that she could afford medicine for her mother."

Arthur looks at her, then shakily rises to his feet.

"Why did she enchant me? What did she have against you?"

Merlin is silent for a moment.

"It wasn't her fault," He says.

Arthur scoffs. "Not her fault!"

"No. Morgana confronted her, told her that she would kill her and her mother if she didn't do her bidding. She promised to heal Yana's mother."

"Morgana? Why would Morgana do such a thing?"

"I'm not sure," Merlin murmurs. "I think she didn't want to enter Camelot without the protection of an army. She wanted to be discreet, so she made Yana do it."

"I still don't understand. Why would she make me kill you? Why not just kill you directly? And for that matter, why does Morgana want you dead in the first place?"

Merlin is quiet. He steps further out of the room, distancing himself from Yana's body.

"I don't know. Perhaps Morgana would have had you kill me, then yourself. But why she wanted me dead...I can't be sure."

But Merlin does know. Yana said Morgana mentioned Emrys, and that can only mean one thing: Morgana know who Merlin really is. He shivers, wondering how she could have known. Perhaps she has another spy in the castle, someone who managed to figure it out. He wants to say that to Arthur, tell him who he really is and why Morgana hates him. But he doesn't.

Arthur huffs out a breath. He looks about to say something, but closes his mouth.

"What is it?" Merlin asks.

Instead of responding, Arthur's eyes flicker to Yana, then back to Merlin. His expression is full of relief and fear. He holds Merlin's gaze for a long time.

"I almost killed you," Arthur says finally.

Merlin nods. "Yes, you did."

"I'm glad I didn't. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had killed you."

Merlin doesn't know what to say to that. "But you did kill Yana."

Arthur exhales sharply, his eyes never leaving Merlin's.

"I know. I'm sorry that she had to die, but if that's what was needed to save you..."

He trails off, then starts again.

"You don't know what it was like," He says. "My body was moving without command, I was a prisoner in my own mind. I was utterly helpless, I could only watch as I tried to reach you...My body was hell-bent on killing you, and I couldn't stop it, there was no way to stop myself, I was going to watch as I killed you! I was so scared, Merlin, I didn't want to hurt you, but the magic was too powerful..."

His voice becoming more and more shaky, his eyes becoming moist, and Merlin can see the fear in his eyes.

"It's okay, Arthur," He says soothingly, reaching out a hand to touch his friend's arm. "It's alright, the spell is lifted."

Arthur nods once, his lips slightly parted, then nods again. Then seems to remember himself, and he quickly averts his eyes.

"Come on," He says, regaining his composure. "We need to take care of Yana's body."

Merlin nods in agreement and bends to lift her up. Arthur helps. Together they move her from the hall onto a cart, where they send her off to the morgue to await burial. Arthur watches the cart go, then turns away stiffly. Merlin follows him.

"You know, you shouldn't be too angry with her."

Arthur says nothing.

"Morgana made her, Yana had no choice. She did it to save her mother. She wasn't evil."

"I know," Arthur says quietly.

"Good."

After a moment's pause, Merlin says,

"You were really scared for me, weren't you?"

Arthur clears his throat. "I didn't want to lose a trained servant, is all."

"Noo," Merlin says cheerfully, "You were terrified! You really care about me don't you? You would never admit it but you do, don't you?"

"Merlin."

"Yes?"

"Shut up!"

~The End~

* * *

**AN: Sorry, no magic reveal this time around, but I hope you liked it anyways!  
**


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